The described subject matter relates to gas turbine engines, and more particularly to seals within gas turbine engines.
Gas turbine engines operate according to a continuous-flow, Brayton cycle. A compressor section pressurizes an ambient air stream, fuel is added and the mixture is burned in a central combustor section. The combustion products expand through a turbine section where bladed rotors convert thermal energy from the combustion products into mechanical energy for rotating one or more centrally mounted shafts. The shafts, in turn, drive the forward compressor section, thus continuing the cycle. Gas turbine engines are compact and powerful power plants, making them suitable for powering aircraft, heavy equipment, ships and electrical power generators. In power generating applications, the combustion products can also drive a separate power turbine attached to an electrical generator.
Seals are required in many locations within a gas turbine engine to regulate air flow to various portions of the engine. From time to time these seals may become damaged, fail or provide for inadequate sealing. This can result in the undesirable heating of engine components.
Flow management often requires a seal on one side of the module to prevent the hot air from the flow path entering and heating the steel frame. Furthermore, a seal land is also required nearby to provide sealing between a rotating disk and an adjacent cavity. A structural part is also useful to transfer meshing loads from the rotating disk to the frame in case of shaft failure. All these functional requirements normally would require multiple pieces of hardware with attendant complexity, leakage, and space considerations.